Foodies dig into the monsoon spread at Blossoms Square. Picture by Rashbehari Das

The best way to pep up a rainy evening is with some really spicy food. Keeping this in mind, Blossoms Square, a multi-cuisine vegetarian restaurant in Alipore, is hosting a monsoon special food festival, the highlight of which is some innovative chatpata dishes to liven up your palate.

The month-long festival that started from July 13 is on for both lunch and dinner and offers a host of Continental and Indian delicacies. There are dishes like Crepe Forester (mixed vegetables cooked and wrapped in a pancake), Cashewnut Roll (cooked mixed vegetable stuffed in a cashewnut roll), Vegetable Derbi, Vegetable Risotto, Cannelloni Florentino, Cottage Cheese Steak, and East-West Cheese Roll (a fusion dish).

For those who would rather stick to Indian fare, there are some innovations like Amras Aloo Dum (potatoes cooked in mango juice), Corn Sheekh Kebab, Achari Tandoori Aloo, Chutney Paneer Tikka, Gatta Kadhi, Jodhpuri Jhalfrezi and Lazeezdar Paneer. For snacks there is Chatpata Baby Corn and Paneer Capsicum Pakora. The dishes in both categories are priced between Rs 70 and Rs 120.

Apart from this selection, there is also a live pasta counter where the chef rustles up your favourite pasta dishes right in front of you.

To help wash it all down, the restaurant has introduced some new mocktails especially for the festival. Monsoon Evening, Pitter Patter, Cloud Trail, Mango Flood, Hyderabad Blues and Mint Memories are are some of the apt concoctions.

Colourful umbrellas as part of the decor and waiters with umbrella headgear add to the splash.

Chingri choice

The Peerless Inn has rolled out its monthly food fest spread yet again.

Aaheli, the Bengali speciality restaurant, is presenting the all time favourite chingri in a variety of avatars all through July. There are traditional Bengali prawn delicacies like the Daab Chingri (prawns marinated in coconut milk, cashew paste and coconut water, sealed and steamed in coconut shell), Kucho Chingrir Chachchari and Aloo Diye Chingri, as well as some innovations by the chef like Chingri Posto and Chingri Mochar Ghonto.

The multi-cuisine restaurant Bichitra offers flavours from Lucknow. Called Lucknowi Nazrana, the festival is on for dinner between July 15 and 31 and presents the rich and aromatic Lucknowi cuisine at its best. The non-vegetarians can gorge on the Lucknowi Dum Biryani, the Murg Khusnuma Kebab (marinated chicken breasts stuffed with minced chicken sauteed and simmered with cheese and egg in tandoor), or the tender Gosht Elaichi Pasanda (fresh mutton pieces marinated with papaya and spices and cooked in tandoor). The veggies can savour the innovative Bharwan Paneer Kesri (diced paneer stuffed with mixed vegetables and cooked in tandoor), the Subzi Sheekh Kakori or the Mahi Gulnar.

With the speciality restaurants providing an exotic mix, things have been kept simple at the 24-hour coffee shop, Nishidin, with the month-long Array of Kathi Roll promotion. So, you can dig into the sumptuous Laccha Sheek Roll and Achari Murg Tikka Roll, while the fish freaks can try the Chatpata Mahi Ajwani Roll. For the green brigade there’s the Masala Subzi Ka Roll or the unique Hariyali Paneer Roll.